A lease agreement grants tenants certain responsibilities like paying rent on time and adhering to the lease terms and policies. That said, either inadvertently or otherwise, some tenants fail in these regards. And when that happens, you may be left with no option but to evict them from your Virginia rental property.
Retaliatory and discriminatory evictions, as well as ‘self-help’ eviction tactics are all illegal. You must follow the process down to the letter for it to be successful and only a court order can lead to the successful removal of a tenant. In this blog, we at Property Specialists Inc. will take you through everything a landlord needs to know regarding the Virginia tenant eviction process.
Determine the Legal Grounds for Eviction
You must have legal grounds to start the tenant eviction process in Virginia. Legal grounds include nonpayment of rent, lease violation, staying after the lease has expired, and illegal activities. The following is a basic overview of the process you must follow:
Serve the Tenant with an Eviction Notice
The notice must be relevant to the violation the tenant has committed. The purpose of an eviction notice is to terminate the lease agreement. It may give the tenant the option to cure a violation within a specified period of time within a certain period to avoid eviction.
File a Lawsuit in Court
If the tenant doesn’t cure the violation or move out within the notice period, the next course of action would be to file a lawsuit.
Attend the Court Hearing
Once the summons and complaint are filed with the court, an eviction hearing will be held. If the judgment is in your favor, the court will issue you with a writ of eviction. The tenant will have no other option but to move out of the property.
Notice for Lease Termination with Legal Cause
As already mentioned, landlords must have a legal reason to start the eviction process against a tenant. The type of eviction notice to use will depend on the reason for termination. The following are the eviction notices to use in Virginia:
- – 5-Day Notice to Pay Rent or Quit. To evict a tenant for nonpayment of rent, you must first give them a 5-day written notice to pay rent or leave.
- – 30-Day Notice to Quit. To evict a tenant who is on a month-to-month lease or who doesn’t have a lease, you must use this notice. This will give them up to 30 calendar days to move out.
- – 30-Day Notice to Cure or Vacate. You must serve this notice to a tenant who commits a minor lease violation. Examples of curable violations include not keeping up with the unit’s cleanliness and allowing the pile-up of garbage in the unit. The notice gives the tenant up to 21 days to fix the violations.
- – 30-Day Notice to Quit. You must serve this notice on a tenant you want to evict for causing irremediable lease violations. Examples of incurable violations include intentionally removing parts of the premises, and willfully causing excessive property damage. The notice gives the tenant up to 30 calendar days to leave the premises.
Serving a Tenant with an Eviction Notice in Virginia
You must serve the eviction notice to the tenant in the manner prescribed by Virginia law. If you fail to do so, the tenant may use that as a legal defense to defer their removal. You must serve the notice in any of the following ways:
- – Delivering a copy of the notice to the tenant in person
- – Mailing a copy to the tenant via first-class mail
- – Ask the sheriff to do the delivery on your behalf
Tenant Eviction Defenses in Virginia
An eviction defense is a legal reason a tenant may give to stop or delay their eviction from the property.
Examples of legal defenses in Virginia include the following:
- – You used illegal eviction methods. You must not try to evict a tenant by shutting off utilities, blocking their access to the property, or removing their belongings.
- – You failed to follow the laid down procedures. For instance, you failed to provide the tenant with the proper notice period to fix a violation or move out.
- – You retaliated against the tenant for a right they exercised against you. For example, complaining to the local government agency about uninhabitable living conditions.
- – You terminated their tenancy after you learned of their domestic violence victim status.
- – The tenant cured the violation but you still went ahead and filed for their removal. If the tenant corrects a violation, for curable violations, within the notice period, you must stop further eviction proceedings.
- – You violated the Fair Housing Laws and tried to evict the tenant because of their race, color, sex, nationality, or any other protected class.
Attending Court Hearing
After filing a summons and complaint with the court, an eviction hearing will typically take place anywhere between 21 and 30 days later. If the tenant doesn’t show up, the judicial officer will most likely issue a default judgment. A writ of eviction will subsequently be issued and the tenant will have to leave.
Bottom Line
This is an overview of the process that a landlord must take when evicting a tenant in Virginia. Landlords should also remain informed of security deposit laws, policies regarding lease breaking, and general landlord-tenant laws.
If you still have a question or need expert help managing your rental properties, look to the experts at Property Specialists Inc. We provide specialized property management services to property owners in Northern Virginia, Washington D.C., and close-in Maryland. Get in touch to learn more!
Disclaimer: Please note that the information provided in this blog is intended for general guidance and should not be considered a replacement for professional legal advice. It is important to be aware that laws pertaining to property management may change, rendering this information outdated by the time you read it.
